Biomolecular Nanomotors To Remove Blood Clots In Heart Diseases
Level - UndergradBiomolecular motors are nature's nanomachines. They convert chemical energy into mechanical work with performance and scale unparalleled by any man made motors or machines. Recently there has been a great deal of interest in using these nanomachines in the fight against heart disease.
Heart attacks occur when atherosclerotic plaques in coronary and carotid arteries rupture unexpectedly. In such cases, the endothelial cells lining the inner layer of vessel wall are lost, which activates the blood clotting system to cover up the ruptured area. If a clot blocks a coronary artery supplying blood to heart muscles, it can result in a heart attack. This is a leading cause of sudden death in the Western countries. Your company believes that smart "rotor-rooter" powered by biomolecular would be a faster, more effective, and safer method for removing these clots than is currently available. Your biomedical engineering team has been charged with looking at the engineering aspects of this problem, not the clinical aspects or delivery challenges of the device. To go forward with this project, as engineers, you need to develop an understanding of the fundamental operating principles of biomolecular motors, the types of motors currently available and exploit this knowledge to harvest, modify and integrate these macromolecular assemblies into a useful device. Your goal is to develop the design of a device driven by a biomolecular motor that has the capability of grinding blood clots that completely block the left anterior descending arteries (LAD).
DELIVERABLE:
Your final report should contain:
1. A description of known biomolecular motors and reasons why your team chose a particular type of biomolecular motor
2. A concept design of your device
3. An estimation of the force required to grind out the clots
4. A description of the device including the biomolecular motor, the source of fuel and an estimation of the maximum force it can generate.
5. A discussion of the pros-and-cons and other potential applications of this nano-biomolecular approach.